Has Keshi Come Back to Bury Super Eagles? By Jude Atupulazi

                          

The announcement of the reinstatement of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi as the coach of the Super Eagles was the most surprising news of late.

The announcement came just barely a week after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) relieved Keshi of his duty following the sloppy performances of his charges in the on-going qualifiers for the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) billed for Morocco early next year.

As at the time Keshi was removed, the Eagles who are the current African champions were placed third behind Congo and South Africa with a paltry four points having lost two matches against Congo and Sudan, drawing one against South Africa and winning just one match against Sudan. For a team parading itself as the champions of Africa, the position it has found itself in is callous.

Part of the reasons for removing Keshi earlier was his ego which prevented him from calling up the nation’s best legs. Rather than call them up, he kept calling up perceived as his loyalists and the result was the mess the team found itself in.

Among the players ignored by Keshi in his first spell were the likes of Villareal of Spain striker, Ike Uche; Stoke City of England star, Victor Moses and a handful of other players making their mark in Europe, just as he ignored a few up and coming stars like Kelechi Iheanacho whom many clamoured for his invitation.

After Keshi’s ‘sack’ Shuaibu Amodu was appointed on caretaker basis to prosecute the remaining two games against Sudan away and South Africa at home.

The NFF quickly compiled a list of 66 players which was forwarded to Amodu and included in the list were the some of the players being clamoured for by Nigerians, including Uche and Martins Obafemi who is making waves in America as well as Iheanacho. Many soccer buffs heaved a sigh of relief and started believing that some miracle might be wrought.

But alas, before they could say Congo, the shocking news of Keshi’s return resonated in the media following a reported plea for Keshi made by his kinsman, Amodu, who said the time was too short for any caretaker arrangement. He probably didn’t want to incur the wrath of his brethren who could accuse him of usurping his brother's position.

And with Keshi’s return has come the reshuffling of the squad list. Now there is no Iheanacho and there is no Martins. There is also no Victor Moses who is currently in the form of his life.

Thus it’s like Keshi is determined to conclude the job he started which is to bury the team he has killed. And just because of his ego!

From the players available for selection in the make or mar game in Congo, only the ignorant or the overly optimistic will fancy the chances of the Eagles winning in Congo. The invitation of Ike Uche and the shunning of Moses, to me, is like a plan to set Uche up so that when the tem fails to click, Keshi will till Nigerians that they had seen why he never wanted Uche.

For watchers of the English Premier League, the omission of Moses from the squad is simply amazing and almost criminal. Moses has been in hot form and has been ripping defences apart in the league and even scored a goal in their last game.

As I mentioned earlier, we badly need Moses in these last two games. Moses’ finishing may not be the best but his runs and dribbles especially when his team is chasing a goal are important. He can cause panic in the opposing defence and create chances for his mates. Creating chances have been the bane of the Eagles so far and that’s why they have not been scoring goals and that’s also why their game is so very predictable.

With a player in the mould of Moses, Congo will be too cautious in their attacking forays, knowing Moses could do the damage in a jiffy whenever Nigeria counters. We also need Moses to help Ahmed Musa who has not been getting adequate support from his mates upfront.

Emenike who just scored his first league goal since August is no more the bully he was and this has reflected in his lack of goals for the Eagles. Thus playing Musa on the right flank and making Emenike the sole striker has given the team less bite. Even if Musa is played in his preferred central attacking position, there will be no one to feed him and once attention is focused on him, that’s kaput for the Eagles.

This is why the call up of Moses would have made a huge difference. With Moses creating confusion on the left wing, attention will be diverted and Musa can do his thing.

On the other hand Mfon Udoh who has scored 21 goals in the Nigerian Premier League, can be drafted into the team and given a central striking role, with Musa and Moses helping out on the wings. But we don’t have Moses and Udoh is not there. So what happens?

Nigeria will be going into one of her two most important battles without the full complement of her soldiers. Uche may just end up as a waste pipe if the players to help him are not there.

Thus I’m not among the optimistic Nigerians who believe the Eagles will qualify by winning these last two matches. I honestly don’t see us winning in Congo with what we have and with the same Keshi as coach. While Keshi remains a great coach, his arrogance has changed all that and affected his team’s performances.

Even if we beat Congo by some lucky happenstance, are we sure of beating South Africa at home? Recall that South Africa’s two victories have come away from home and so who says we won’t become their third victim? Besides, while we have conceded five goals, South Africa have concede none. So how sure are we of beating them?

But we can only talk about beating them in our last match in Nigeria if we beat Congo next Saturday. Failure to beat Congo will dampen our spirits and could set us up for a first time defeat to South Africa and right in our own back yard.

A new coach has a way of galvanizing his team and this was what I expected to see with Amodu. Besides, his fresh tactics will always bring a few changes and that could have foxed the Congolese coach who by now must have studies Keshi’s tactics right from the last AFCON. But under a new coach our opponents’ coaches would have been perplexed.

As I earlier said, that won’t be the case now as we still have the same old coach, same toothless team and same low spirits. Our opponents will still believe they can beat us.

All these and more are why I don’t think Nigeria will qualify. We may be looking for a win in Congo but we may even end up losing. That is the grim fact. In fact I see our best result there as a draw because of our failure, or is it refusal, to make wholesale changes to vital departments in the team.

Watching us play against Sudan in the first leg in Khartoum, I had the feeling that team would not score even if the match lasted two days. That’s a measure of the lethargic nature of our play.

Although I do not see us beating Congo and qualifying for Morocco, miracles still do happen and it is based on this that Nigeria may just sneak into Morocco rather than hitting there like true champions of Africa. This is no thanks to the crises in the NFF which threw the country’s football into confusion and the poor decisions of Coach Keshi before now.

Thus as it is now, Keshi may have returned as an undertaker for the Eagles instead of a messiah and perhaps that will be a fitting end for a country that refuses to learn from history.